


Coughing Up Flowers

by NotAKarrInTheWorld



Category: Original Work
Genre: Horror, i honestly don't know how to tag this, read cw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28593600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotAKarrInTheWorld/pseuds/NotAKarrInTheWorld
Summary: Worth is a strange thing. Humanity calls many things ''worthy'' and ''unworthy''; of our time, our money, ourselves, changing the criteria of ''important'' as many times as we smile, blink, laugh, and lie.But sometimes, someone, somewhere, will attach worth to something to the point of obsession, and obsession can be more dangerous than anything else in this world.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Coughing Up Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> Content Warnings:  
> -Obsession  
> -Fire  
> -Graphic descriptions of violence  
> -Blood  
> -Choking  
> -Gore  
> -Death  
> -Police (mention)

Worth is a strange thing. Humanity calls many things ''worthy'' and ''unworthy''; of our time, our money, ourselves, changing the criteria of ''important'' as many times as we smile, blink, laugh, and lie.  
But sometimes, someone, somewhere, will attach worth to something to the point of obsession, and obsession can be more dangerous than anything else in this world.

University life is a tiring life, taking up most if not all of Jamie Scriven's time, energy, and already low funds. There was little time for hobbies or going out, but Jamie had one thing that brought them joy: Gardening.  
Any spare moment they had, every penny they could put aside, was put towards their garden.  
Living in a small flat with three people meant that they had almost no way of growing anything at home, but lucky for them, there was a community garden about half an hour away that loved all the help it could get. Jamie had been helping there for almost three years now, and it was their pride and joy.  
Today was Friday, and they had finally finished work, allowing them the freedom of some gardening.  
''Good morning, my lovelies,'' Jamie called out to the plants as they zipped up their jacket against the crisp autumn breeze, closing the metal mash gate behind them. ''How are we today?''  
They took a second to stretch out their spine, observing the land surrounding them.  
The weather had been excellent this year. The crops had grown tall and wide. Jamie was delighted at the sight of these beautiful flowers, almost looking like they were trying to do their utmost best to look as pretty as possible for their favourite caretaker. Tying up their long brown hair they started making their way down the main path to the old supply shed. Jamie smiled softly as they walked, letting their hands brush against some of the bushes. They felt springy and alive under their touch.  
The wooden door to the shed wasn't locked, which either meant someone else was here, or someone had simply forgotten to close it. Jamie suspected it was the latter of the two, considering there had been no confused human response to their earlier greeting of the plants, and also that the last name on the volunteers' list was a familiar one. It read: ''Naomi Gadhavi''.

Jamie knew Naomi, having had a few conversations with the tall lady. It wasn't uncommon for her to forget things. The land manager had already called her out on her mild negligence before. She was a lovely person, but would forget her own head if it hadn't been attached to her already. However, she was a great gardener and pleasant to talk to.  
Even if you did have to remind her what the topic was every five minutes or so.  
Jamie rather liked her, more than any of the other volunteers, so this mildly frustrating habit of forgetting to relock the door before leaving didn't bother them as much as it would have bothered any of the others. They felt like they didn't really have the right to judge anyway, seeing as they'd always forget their keys, wallet, assignments.  
Besides, they figured, the door being unlocked only saved them time, and they didn't really worry about someone trying to rob the shed. All it contained was a large supply of gardening equipment and the recordings of the security cameras.  
The shed was neatly organized, making finding your tools a piece of cake. Jamie picked up their brightly colored toolbelt and grabbed some of the more common equipment, before closing the door and beginning their tasks.

Jamie hummed a soft song as they watered the yellow and pink roses, the calendulas, and the small apple tree in the middle of the garden, periodically stopping to stretch out their crunching spine. They swung their arms around a bit, giving them a bit of a break before they continued to the next patch. It was a lovely bunch of Chrysanthemums, large and white and small and red and round and blue, vibrant and strong. They tickled Jamies face as they knelt down between them, making them giggle.  
''Stop that,'' they laughed, ''or I won't be able to water you properly.''  
The chrysanthemums seemed to understand, giving Jamie the space to reach their roots without risking to trample them. 

The sun was starting to set as Jamie finally finished up with the chrysanthemum patch. Beating the dust and mud off of their dark jeans, Jamie resumed their next task of raking the scattered plant waste and tidying up the shed a bit. Wiping the sweat from their brow they looked around the garden again. It looked good. All the plants seemed content and strong, and the pathways were clean. Jamie was very attached to the plants in this garden. Their flatmate Peter had once even joked that they ''seemed to think of them as their children.'' Jamie had laughed at this, even if it had been a bit closer to the truth than they cared to admit. They took a few moments to wander around, lovingly admiring the greenery, chatting a bit with the shrubbery. The sun disappeared behind the houses.  
Jamie locked the shed and left.

The day after, Jamie was crudely awoken by a phone call. Groggily they pushed themself upright in bed, slapping the covers in an attempt to find their phone. Their hand closed around the yelling device and quickly opening it up, briefly glancing at the time before answering. ''Jamie,'' they said, silently cursing whoever thought it was a good idea to call at six A.M. on a Saturday.  
''Scrivens?'' The voice on the other side sounded calm, in the fake way adults sound calm when they need to keep their panicking kids from screaming. Tired as they were, Jamie recognized the voice of the community garden's supervisor, Kiro James.  
''We need you down to the garden. Something awful has happened- is happening. Please, it's-''  
''Alright, alright, Mister James,'' they said hastily, still sleepy, ''I'm on my way, I'll get dressed and be there in thirty.''  
They did as promised, spending no more time on getting ready than absolutely necessary. They could dress up when they had more time. For now, the same stained dark jeans and pink long-sleeved shirt they wore yesterday would have to do, hair tied back in a messy ponytail. They hopped on their bicycle and headed for the garden.

As Jamie neared the Community Garden, a stench started to hit their nostrils. Smoke. Deep, strong smoke. Jamie's heart sank as the smell intensified, feeling tears welling up and pushing them down violently, stepping on the pedals in an attempt to move faster as the painful reality hit. It came from the garden.

Thick, black smoke rose from the Community Garden as Jamie arrived, obscuring the sky from view. They got off of their bicycle and dropped it, not even bothering to lock it up as they ran to the fence where the small group of co-volunteers and friends stood. Jamie felt their legs shake as they slowed their pace, looking for their supervisor in a desperate hope for answers as to why their beloved plants were currently burning up in slow agony. They found him huddled together with some of the other volunteers, shivering in the cold morning air, watching on silently as firefighters tried their best to save what they could.  
''I'm here,'' Jamie said, trying the best they could to avert their gaze from the faint outline of some burning aloe. ''What happened?''  
The group was quiet, simply watching the flames.  
Jamie asked again, panic rising in their voice. ''What happened?'' A hand grabbed their shoulder. Shivering, they turned and came face to face with Naomi. Her face was soft and sad, looking at them with a mix of pity, grief, and compassion.  
''We don't know for sure,'' she started slowly, ''but it appears to have been an intentional fire.''  
Jamie stared at her in disbelief. ''It got torched?''  
Naomi let her eyes wander back to the garden and nodded, moving her hand to hold theirs. They grabbed on and gave her a soft squeeze, no longer able to resist looking at the inferno. They both needed a friend right now.  
''There doesn't seem to be any way to review the camera footage,'' she muttered. Jamie let out a soft curse. The recordings were kept in the shed. The shed that was currently wrapped in wild flames. Jamie swore again, softly sinking to their knees as tears started flowing freely. ''Why?'' They muttered. Nobody answered. They didn't know.  
Maybe there was no ''why'', no reason. Maybe someone had just been bored. Maybe it had been an accident. It didn't matter. All that mattered, all that had ever mattered, was this garden -their garden- which was now ablaze and dying and dead. All they loved, gone.

It took the firefighters three hours to snuff the flames, and all that time Jamie watched. Watched their cherished plants as they got torn up by the roots, fried by the flames, stepped on, crushed. Apparently, someone had left to get drinks because they found themself holding a cup of coffee that said ''Jerry'', the hot liquid burning the roof of their mouth. They didn't care. Hardly felt it.  
They wanted to rush in, to do something, but what would they have been able to do? All they could do was wait for the captain of the firefighters to give the small group of volunteers the greenlight. When the captain finally did, the group spared no time getting onto the land. It was bad.  
Almost all of the plants had died. Many had been crushed, but most had simply burned away. Part of Jamie was hopeful -they had brought back plants from the brink of existence before- but another, bitter part of them knew that most of their beloved crops were beyond saving. Between the blaze and the oncoming winter, it would prove a real miracle to find anything alive at all in a month's time. A tall figure stood beside them. ''We could perhaps bring a few with us to our homes, try to regrow them whilst the garden heals?'' Naomi's voice had the same spark of hope in it that Jamie had briefly felt, and they turned from the blackened remains of a patch of lilies they'd once known to be orange to face the group behind them.  
''We could,'' Kiro began carefully. ''If we all bring home something, we can have this regrown when spring arrives.'' Jamie looked down to the plant at their feet. The roots had been torn out, loosely laying on the wet dirt. ''If we even find anything to save.''  
Kiro gave them a look. ''We can certainly try,'' he said, and addressing the group he added: ''Those that can and want to, start looking around for any kind of plant you might be able to save. I'll head out and get some containers and such.'' Kiro sounded encouraging, but Jamie felt his misery as strong as if it had been their own. Or maybe it was their own? It was hard to tell at this point. They got up and slapped their supervisor on the shoulder. ''We'll find something,'' they assured him. Kiro smiled. ''I know you will. Go take care of these plants. I'll be back as soon as possible.'' Jamie nodded, and Kiro took his leave. Jamie let their eyes wander the wrecked garden. Time to find something to bring home.

About an hour later, Jamie was walking home, bike loaded up with a large flowerbed. They glanced at the bed in vain hope. ''I'm going to take care of you,'' they promised softly. ''You'll be okay! I'll take care of you.'' The plants didn't respond, though Jamie could've sworn they saw the Aconites grow up a little taller. It was going to be okay. They could regrow them.  
The road back home took a long, long time, but Jamie refused to speed up out of fear of dropping the already fragile plants. The only way to do this was to take it slow. Walk a few meters, reattaching the straps to keep the tub of roots and torn plant matter secure. Walk a bit. Reattach the straps. Walk a bit. Reattach. Walk. The clouds started getting thicker, promising rain. Jamie was getting tired. Reattach. Walk. Reattach. Walk. They thought about moving faster, get home before the weather turned. They kept walking. Reattach. Walk. Jamie cursed as raindrops hit their face. They hated getting wet. Walk. Reattach. Don't rush or the beds will shift and fall. Just take it easy, you'll be home soon. Walk. Put bike against the fence. Grab the plant beds. Don't slip on the wet ground. Don't drop them don't drop them don't drop them. Walk.  
Finally, they arrived at their flat. Jamie sighed as they saw the door, both out of relief as out of frustration. Opening it was going to be a real challenge with their hands full. For a moment they thought about what to do next (put the plants down? Use their foot to knock? Yell?) before gently trying to push the door open with their shoulder. To their surprise, it opened. Moderately on guard, they continued inwards. ''Hello?'' Their call sounded muffled in the small space. ''Anyone home?'' No response. The flat was quiet, the only noises being the cars outside and the rain against the windows. Jamie carefully made their way to the large wooden table that took up most of the space in the flat before placing the plants down on its surface. They gave their wet hair a shake and took a relieved breath, stretching their back and shoulders with a groan. The silence was odd. It was almost 2 PM, most of their flatmates should be home, so where were they?

They knocked on one of the bedroom doors, suspicion on their face as the door swung inward to show… two of their flatmates, wearing headphones. ''Oh, there you are,'' they sighed, suddenly feeling rather drained. ''I'm, uh, I'm home.'' One of their flatmates gave them a quick nod. They appeared to be playing a game of some sort, clearly not in the mood for a conversation. ''Alright then,'' Jamie muttered, and closed the door again.

They walked back to the table, currently overtaken by the large flowerbed. The adrenaline of the morning flushed from their system left them feeling sluggish, wanting nothing more than to go take a nap. ''First, I take care of you,'' Jamie said, making their way to the small kitchen to grab a few items to aid them. Jamie didn't understand the worry building up in their chest. The plan was simple: Keep the small pieces of life alive until they are strong enough to go outside again. They'd done such a thing before. Nursing plants back to health had been a hobby of theirs for a while; right until their newest flatmate, Casey, had complained about it taking up too much space and insisted Jamie ceased their mission. They'd gotten upset over this, causing a minor scuffle in the flat before they compromised on only having one project at a time. This plant bed was a bit larger than the ones they'd used before, but they were damned if they'd throw these plants out. Jamie let their hand glide over the torn leaves and broken stems of some of the flowers they'd brought. Their throat tightened as they observed the once tall and bright snapdragons and gentle cypresses, now reduced to almost nothing. Jamie's heart felt heavy. ''Poor beauties,'' they said mournfully. ''I'll do everything I can to bring you back.'' And with that promise, they started their work.

It took almost an hour to get the flowers repotted in solid containers. The heavy rain outside had intensified, creating a rhythm that made Jamie feel sedated and sluggish. They had to do the plants first. They had to. They had to they had-  
In the end, muscle memory guided their hands more than their mind could.

The following two months went by in a blur. Phonecalls, lectures, arguments with flatmates over dirt, studying, exams, bills, arguments with flatmates over flower petals in their beds, more tests, more studying, confusing lectures, calls from Kiro and Naomi.  
Jamie's thoughts were getting jumbled, often struggling to think about anything besides their recovering flowers. The flowers had been doing well, very well even, some already reaching up thirty-seven centimeters. Jamie knew each and every size of each and every one of them by heart.  
They measured it twice a day.  
Their flatmates were getting worried. Often they would find Jamie sitting next to the flowerpots, softly murmuring encouraging words. Casey had tried to talk to them about it, tried to get through to them.  
''Jamie, this isn't healthy,'' Casey pressed after a day of nothing but Jamie staring at the tub. ''You haven't done a single thing for school in the last week, you hardly sleep, all for… what?'' Jamie didn't respond, encouraging Casey's frustrations.  
''Just for some plants?! When is the last time you ate something, Jamie?Jamie?'' No response. ''Jamie?! Answer me!'' Casey gave Jamie's shoulder a push. Slowly, they turned to their flatmate, looking at her with a hurt expression.  
''Did you notice this?'' They gestured at a partially broken petunia. They didn't recall planting petunias. That didn't matter, it was broken, so it had to be healed. Casey rolled her eyes. ''No.''  
She groaned as they turned around again.  
''Did you even listen to what I was saying?''  
If Jamie had heard her, they didn't let it show. ''Why do I even bother,'' she muttered under her breath. ''We had a rule, Jamie. One plant at a time. Pick one and get the rest out, or I'll do it.'' Jamie didn't react.

The next morning, Jamie was awakened by screams. They felt stiff and cold, as if they had slept in the living room with the window open. Looking up they realized this had actually been the case. They groaned and yawned, watching the petunias eagerly stretch out towards them in a morning greeting. They wrapped the delicate flowers around their fingers for a moment before another scream sounded, finally cutting through Jamies half-awakened haze. They were coming from one of their flatmate's rooms. Groggily they pushed themself up, stretching as they made their way in the direction of the sounds. They gently pushed open one of the doors. ''What's going on?'' they yawned, eyes shut against the bright light in the room.  
Silence hit them like a wall.  
They opened their eyes.  
Casey was lying on her bed.  
Her eyes were wide in pain and fear, jaw scratched up and still dripping with blood. Soft purple petals covered her chest and face, mouth stuffed with… ''Rocket flowers,'' Jamie muttered in gentle awe, pushing past the people in the room to face their new friends. ''So resilient. Did you make yourself a home here?'' Their fingers drifted past the delicate light purple flowers, enamored by their hue and soft petals. Behind them, the two remaining flatmates stared at them in horror. Jamie gave them a confused glance. ''What?'' They said nothing; instead, one of them pulled out their phone and left the room. Their other flatmate, Peter, remained, just staring. ''What?'' Jamie questioned again, more forceful this time.  
Still no answer.  
Peter's name got called from inside, making him slowly back out, gaze drifting back and forth between the flower-covered corps and his fascinated flatmate. The door shut with a bang.  
Jamie gave their head a shake, looking back to the new, beautiful plant growing in such an unusual place.  
They needed another pot.

When Jamie finally managed to tear themself away from their new friend, they found the apartment empty. Jamie made their way through the small flat, calling out for them. Fear started building up inside their stomach.  
''Have they left me?'' Jamie asked the bright orange Wallflowers which had begun appearing along the seams in the ceiling.  
''Have they betrayed me?'' they questioned at the rising tuberose.  
''I see.'' Something inside of them burst, and Jamie started laughing.  
Bright red flowers with sickly yellow centers took over the couch as Jamie's humor sounded through the now empty flat, the Harlequin Flowers joining in their mocking joy.  
A knock sounded on the door.  
''Hello? Jamie Scrivens?'' They froze. The voice wasn't familiar.  
Jamie felt their hair rise.  
The fear flower in their stomach grew as they looked at the door, slowly growing shut with tiny green leaves that covered every nook and cranny.  
From the other side of the door came more voices.  
''We have a warrant!''  
''It's the police, open up!''  
''Open the door, or we will have to break it down!''  
Jamie's heart grew cold. The flatmates had called the cops. They were here to get rid of their plants. They were going to hurt their friends. They had to stop them.  
''You want to hurt them,'' they choked out. ''You want to hurt my flowers. You will NOT HURT MY FLOWERS!''  
Silence.  
Jamie's fear began to rise in tandem with the rising eucalyptus at their feet, climbing over their slippers. For a moment they watched. All was serene.

Then the banging began.

It took the cops almost three full minutes to break through the clover covered door. It landed on the ground with a muffled thud as quacking grass and clover cushioned its fall. Six officers started making their way in. They couldn't make it far. The flat was overrun by flowers of many shapes and shades, some that weren't even supposed to grow in this country, let alone this climate. A shocked murmur ran through the party as they noticed the figure lying in the middle of the room.  
Hair interwoven with tamarisk, body covered in colourful zinnia flowers, dark eyes wide and bleeding, mouth filled with dark red calycanthus matching in shade with thick, crimson blood that slowly trickled down their face.  
Jamie lay lifeless, clutching a single black rose.

**Author's Note:**

> AN:
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this! This was my first time writing a horror story so I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a kudos and comment, I'd love to hear opinions and advice<3
> 
> All the flowers in this story have meaning:  
> Yellow Roses: Friendship  
> Pink roses: Friendship and happiness  
> Calendulas: happiness  
> Apple Blossom: Hope, good fortune  
> Chrysanthemums: Friendship, specifically friendly trust  
> Aloe: Sorrow, grief  
> Orange Lillies: Hatred, disdain  
> Aconites: Caution  
> Cypress: mourning, despair  
> Snapdragon: Deception  
> Petunias: Resentment, Anger  
> Rocket flower: Rivalry  
> Wallflower: Adversity and friendship  
> Tuberose: Dangerous  
> Harlequin Flower: Laugh at trouble  
> Clover (Five leafed): Bad luck  
> Eucalyptus: Safeguard, Protection  
> Quaking Grass: Anger, Agitation  
> Tamarisk: Crime, guilty  
> Zinnia (Magenta): Long-lasting affection  
> Calycanthus: Benevolence
> 
> Thank you for reading!  
> Rose (Black): Death


End file.
